Thank you to everyone who reviewed; it means very much to me. A friend translated for me and I'm really glad for it. This is the last chapter, but there will be an important epilogue.

Illusions 43

Marian slipped into the little chapel; it was completely quiet, and she did not meet anyone in the courtyard. She wasn't able to sleep and had tossed and turned in her bed. Eventually, she rose by an impulse and got dressed. First, she went to Guy's door, but strangely enough, he was not in his room. In the end, she went down to the little chapel. It was dark inside as the candles had been extinguished after evening mass. With a squeak, the door opened and Marian entered the bleak room that was only lightened by the single light she was carrying. Slowly, she went to the front of the chapel and stared at the crucifix above the altar before she sat down on a bench and carefully placed the candle beside her. She didn't know what she was going to expect – a sign from heaven, maybe? A sign that would tell her how things would continue with her and Guy and that everything would be well? It was cold in the chapel, but she felt even colder inside.

Four days had passed since he had come to her door and asked her not to leave. Four days during which she had sometimes asked herself if she hadn't made a mistake. She had been sitting at his bed but he had often been monosyllabic, almost glum, and she felt as if an invisible wall had been erected between them. It wasn't only his impatience to leave his bed eventually – he had already achieved this goal – it was something else, and she didn't know what.

"Help me!", Marian whispered and was listening for an answer. But there wasn't any, and finally she sighed and rose.

Even now, there was no one in the hallway, and everything was quiet. She hesitated for a moment. She could return to her bed, but she knew that she would not be able to sleep. What good would it do if she was tossing and turning sleeplessly in her bed? Had all the power that she had felt inside her already vanished? Did love mean feeling permanently helpless and never being really happy? She had to talk to him now, even if she had to wake him up. Marian took a deep breath – she had to know what she was getting into. She felt her heart beating in her throat: She was afraid of what he might say, but this trembling uncertainty was even more terrible.

When Marian approached Guy's room, she could hear low voices. Then she saw that the door was not closed but slightly ajar. She raised her hand to knock when suddenly...

"When will you tell Marian?", she heard Rhobert's dark voice say.

Marian felt her heart beating in her throat again. Tell her what?... She wanted to enter the room, but she was frozen to the spot. Maybe it was even better this way to find out what Guy thought of her. What else could it be than him having second thoughts about her and that he didn't want her any more? The quietness that followed seemed to be endless, even though Marian realised later that it couldn't have lasted more than a few seconds.

"We will not take her with us. It was a mistake asking her to stay with me, and I will have to tell her later." Guy's voice sounded as cold as a stone.

Take her with them?What was happening here? Marian had heard enough. She determinedly opened the door and entered. "You can just as well tell me now, Guy!"

Both men turned round, surprised, and stared at her. Rhobert blinked astonishedly. He had known Marian to be a reserved young woman. In Newtown Abbey he only caught a brief glimpse of the woman who Guy had described. She had self-confidence and a demeanour that distinguished her from most of the other women. This determinedness could he see in her eyes.

"I'll better leave you two alone", he said shortly and left the room.

Marian remained standing near the door. Had she really been so wrong about him?It seemed as if he wasn't better than Robin after all – all hat and no cattle – and she had thought… His face didn't even show a hint of an emotion.

"What was it that you wanted to tell me later, Guy?", Marian repeated with a firm voice. Her initial bewilderment made way to anger and contempt that were mirrored in her features.

For a short moment, Marian could see the uncertainty in his eyes, but then Guy contained himself again. His lips were tightly pressed together when he replied: "It will be better for you if you carry out your original plan and leave the country. I will arrange for…"

"Better for me? And you decide about that? What has happened in the last few days for you to suddenly decide that you do not want me after all? Do you expect a career here at the court and I will be a hindrance?", she asked sarcastically. Her eyes sparkled and her hands were balled into fists.

Guy stared at Marian as if he did not believe what he heard, and in the expression of his eyes she realised that there must be something completely different behind it all. She took a deep breath. "What has happened, Guy?"

Still drowsy, Rhobert got dressed while Gwyneth plaited her hair and put on a gown.It was late at night but nevertheless a servant had knocked on their door and asked him and Gwyneth to see Lord Rhys immediately.An ominous feeling crept over Rhobert; this could not just have something to do with the attack on the English.They followed the servant along the dark hallway to the prince's rooms.It was almost deadly silent, only the door squeaked slightly in its hinges as the servant opened it with a bow and then departed.

Rhys ap Gruffydd was sitting on a carved chair in front of the fireplace.He quickly glanced up and indicated Rhobert and Gwyneth to sit down… Three chairs, not two… Only a few minutes later, Guy entered and bowed.

Rhys saw the questioning glances and nodded shortly before he cleared his throat."I will come right to the point.I have received a message today…", his voice wavered, but then he composed himself again."I have been very unlucky with my sons, and now it seems that some of them even want to add betrayal to everything they have done already.Two of them have ganged up against me, and I do not know whether I can fend them off this time.This is what has always weakened us.If we had only been of one mind, the English wouldn't have…" He sighed."Maelgwn and Hywel have ganged up, and I fear that I have to expect an attack.If they manage to defeat me, Bran will no longer be safe, and I don't know whether they could be stopped even from killing you, Gwyneth.So far, you have only been an unimportant who has also hardly ever been at court, but I do not know what ideas might form in their heads."He paused and looked from Rhobert to Guy."I want you to leave the castle just after daybreak and get yourself in safety.They will not look for you as you are not important enough.Fight your way to the North; I will give you a letter of consignment that might still be helpful for a while, even though I don't know for how long.Guy, I had promised you some land and more as a reward.For now, I am afraid, this will have to be a small old castle in the North of our country with a lot of work to be done to it.Maybe you can return soon, but for the time being… You will receive some gold from my treasury so that life will not be too uncomfortable for you there.However, I cannot spare any soldiers at the moment. Nevertheless, you will be able to take a few trustworthy servants with you… Guy, tell me, what about Lady Marian? Will she come with you?If not, you have to arrange for her to leave the country as soon as possible.I count on you…"

Guy nodded in accordance, but didn't say a word.He felt numb.Once again all his plans had come to grief.It was written in the stars whether they would ever return – and until then they had to live in some semi-derelict ruins together with bats and rats… He had heard of Maelgwn and Hywel and knew about their hatred of everything that was English. While Lord Rhys could distinguish between friends and enemies, his sons would put massacre everyone without drawing a distinction.

But did he have a choice?He had given Lord Rhys his word to serve him faithfully – and he would not break his word.

It was quiet for a while, and Rhys looked at his daughter and the two men expectantly.Rhobert took Gwyneth's hand and pressed it tenderly before he rose to speak."We won't lose any time and start making preparations immediately.Tomorrow morning we will not leave the castle together but by and by so that for the time being, nobody will know that we are escaping… My Lord, we will not disappoint you. Bran will be safe with us."

Rhys ap Gruffydd's face looked as if petrified, and spontaneously, Gwyneth stretched out her hand and tenderly stroked the arm of the man that was her father but who nevertheless was almost a stranger to her.He looked at her in surprise, and a tired smile slightly lit up his face."Thank you, my child", he said and rose."May God be with you.I will let you know when…" He fell silent.

Only a few moments later Guy, Rhobert and Gwyneth left the rooms of the Welsh monarch.There wasn't much they could do about it.Lord Rhys had already sealed the letter of consignment but they did not even know whether they would use it as it might enable possible pursuers to trace them.Rhobert was quite familiar with the North of Wales and also knew the way to the castle. They would take four servants with them, as well as a richly filled bag with gold.

"Guy, I think we need to discuss a few things… Gwyneth, please go to our room and wake your maid. Pack a few things, but not so much as for us to need a packhorse."Rhobert pulled his wife into his arms and tenderly kissed her forehead before he followed Guy into his rooms.

Guy's voice was expressionless, and his face remained unmoved. "Two of Lord Rhys's sons have ganged up against him. Gwyneth, Rhobert and I will flee with Bran to the North of the country and hide there. You see, it will be better for you to leave the country."

What else could he tell her? That he knew for sure she would be sorry after a few weeks to have come with him if she had to live in some old derelict castle in the North of Wales? It was less than nothing that he could offer her – a future in a rat hole. The desperate thoughts that came upon him when he had time for reflection had become reality.

"That… that is the reason?", Marian cried, stunned. "Guy, this… this cannot be the only reason… And all your alleged feelings for me, are they no longer worth anything?"

"This is the reason – and a good reason!", Guy hissed. "What will you think when you have to live in a godforsaken place in a country whose language you do not understand and whose people hate you because you are English? Here at the court it would have been something different. Then, at the latest, you will be sorry…", he broke off and tried to regain his composure. He breathed heavily, and his face had assumed an almost hostile expression.

"I have come to Wales because of you – and not because of the hope for a safe future", Marian burst out, but Guy only laughed bitterly. "Are you still going to say that when you are living with me in a rat hole? Lord Rhys hasn't minced matters. And now I don't have anything that I can offer you. You want me? You don't know what you are talking about."

Marian saw the flicker in Guy's eyes and sensed that he wanted to say something else. However, he pressed his lips tightly together and simply turned away from her. "Go!", he said harshly.

"Go? Just like that? Only a few days ago you asked me to stay with you, and now – just like that – you have changed your mind? And the only reason you can tell me is that it would be better for me to leave and that I had to live in a dilapidated castle? What, do you think, have I done when you left me behind in that tumbledown hut? Vaysey was hard on my heels, and I thought that Robin was dead. I have eked out a living as a maid, until I heard the news of King Richard's return. I don't believe you; these are just empty words. Maybe I have never really known you and made a man out of you in my mind that never existed."

"Empty words?", Guy uttered and whirled around. "They never were empty words, and you know as well as I do! But you are right that the man you allegedly are in love with doesn't exist. Over the last few days I couldn't do much else but thinking, and maybe I would even have come to the same conclusion without knowing what Lord Rhys has told us tonight. You fell in love with the noble Robin Hood, but he turned out not to be as noble as you thought. And then you have created the illusion of a new noble man, that of a repentant Guy of Gisborne. But wait, not even the name is correct!" His voice sounded scornful, his lips pursed in sarcasm. Only his eyes betrayed him.

Marian stood as if paralysed. Maybe she should have expected it. She had known for a long time that behind his façade Guy was an insecure man. And now he wanted to send her away because he had the wrong ideas of her and of himself. Her heart was beating in her throat. She didn't want to go – but what else could she do if he thought that she had fallen in love with an illusion? The man who would previously have done everything to make her stay with him was now about to send her away.

How could she make him see that he was wrong? He wouldn't listen, but why should she give up so easily? "Yes, these are just empty words! You talked about loving me, you wanted to marry me, but probably you only wanted to take revenge on Robin of Locksley. You wanted to own his property and his bride, and now that I do no longer own anything apart from what little money I traded for my jewellery you realise that you…"

With a long step he was with her, grabbed her roughly by the shoulders and shook her. "That's what you think of me? How…"

"And you? You also think of me that I only love you if you can offer me power and a title…!", she interrupted him.

Guy froze, his grip loosened a fraction and he looked at her, still stunned, while Marian continued in a low voice. "Believe me, I have never thought Robin to be faultless, but I thought he would stick by me… You, however, were even willing to sacrifice your life…" Tears welled up in her eyes; she blinked and bit her lip. "I have had many illusions in my life, and I am afraid that the imagination that you... love me will turn out to be an illusion as well. You want to leave me, and I cannot do anything against it."

Tears ran down her cheeks and she covered her face with her hands. "Marian", Guy moaned and pulled her towards him. He had been so sure that he could not offer her anything but it seemed as if there was something that she really wanted – she wanted him. "Marian, I love you so much…" He held her tightly in his arms as if to tell himself that she belonged to him.

"Then don't leave me", Marian whispered. "Stay with me." She wiped her tears away and tried to smile. "Take me with you."

Guy looked down at her. Could she be right? "Marian, I…" His hands nervously stroked her hair; he swept a strand away from her face, and his hands caressed first her cheeks and then her lips… her lovely lips. He felt her tender kiss on his fingers and then he bent down. His mouth touched hers, hesitantly at first, but her lips opened and welcomed him.

The two of them did not hear when the door opened a crack and then closed again quietly. "I think we need another horse", Gwyneth smiled. "I am glad."